Lemon Ricotta Cookies – Small Batch makes 6 cookies

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These Lemon Ricotta Small Batch Cookies are soft, tender, and with fresh lemon flavor. Ricotta cheese gives these cookies an incredibly light and cake-like texture, while the lemon zest and sweet lemon icing make every bite taste like summer. Since this is a small batch recipe, which comes together quickly with simple pantry ingredients.

A stack of lemon cookies with glaze, two cookies broken in half to show the soft interior, with a lemon slice and more cookies in the background.

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Ingredients Needed

Top-down view of labeled baking ingredients: ricotta cheese, granulated sugar, egg, lemon, butter, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and powdered sugar on a light surface.
  • Use whole milk ricotta: Whole milk ricotta creates the softest, richest texture. If your ricotta seems watery, drain off excess liquid before mixing.
  • Fresh lemon makes a difference: Fresh zest and juice give these cookies their bright, vibrant citrus flavor.

Have leftover ingredients then try this lemon ricotta pasta sauce .

Visual Instructions for Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Start by preheating the oven at 350 degrees F and mixing the cookie dough

Four images show sequential mixing stages for a baking recipe: dry and wet ingredients, partially mixed, smoother mixture, and final creamy batter in a glass bowl.

Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 12-14 minutes.

Three images show drop biscuit dough being scooped onto a baking sheet, six dough balls before baking, and the finished baked biscuits on parchment paper.

Cool the cookies, make the icing and ice the cookies.

Three-step process: mixing white glaze in a bowl, spooning glaze onto cookies, and glazed cookies cooling on a wire rack with a dusting of lemon zest.

Recipe Notes

  • Don’t over bake: These cookies stay pale even when fully baked. Remove them once the tops look set and the bottoms are lightly cooked.
  • Adjust the glaze consistency: Add more powdered sugar for a thicker glaze or a few extra drops of lemon juice for a thinner drizzle.

Storage: Store the glazed cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, if they last that long.

Round lemon cookies with white icing and lemon zest are arranged on a grid-patterned cloth, next to a wooden spoon with icing and a small glass bowl of icing.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

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Lemon Ricotta Cookies are soft, fluffy, and filled with bright citrus flavor. Made with creamy ricotta cheese, fresh lemon zest, and topped with a sweet lemon glaze, they have a tender cake-like texture that melts in your mouth. This easy small batch cookie recipe comes together quickly with no dough chilling required.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
Servings: 6 cookies
Recipe Cost: $3.25
Calories: 213

Ingredients
  

Cookie Dough
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter softened
  • ½ cup ricotta cheese
  • 6 tablespoons granulated white sugar
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg yolk
Lemon Icing
  • 6 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • teaspoons lemon juice
  • lemon zest for topping

Recipe Directions
 

  1. Start by preheat your oven to 350℉
Cookies
  1. In a large bowl, combine the room-temperature butter, sugar, vanilla extract,and lemon zest. Beat for a few minutes.
  2. Add the egg and beat until well combined.
  3. Add the ricotta cheese and beat again until smooth.
  4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix with a spatula until you have a smooth dough. There's no need to chill the dough.
  5. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a #20 cookie scoop, form equal-sized balls of dough. Pace them on the baking sheet, leaving space between each one.
  6. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the tops are cooked through. The dough doesn't brown much.
  7. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Icing
  1. Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice, adding it gradually until you reach the desired consistency.
  2. Spread the icing onto each cookie.
  3. Finally, decorate with a little lemon zest sprinkled over the icing.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 213kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 4gFat: 7gSodium: 115mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 20g

Notes

  • The zest is key to the flavor, so be sure to wash it well and avoid the
    white pith (albedo), as it is bitter.
  • If you don’t have an ice cream scoop, you can form balls with
    the cookies using a spoon, making sure they are all the same size so they bake evenly.
  • Don’t overbake them; they don’t brown much in this type of cookie
    and remain paler.

Estimated Recipe Cost

Estimated prices may vary depending on location and brand.

IngredientEstimated Cost
All-purpose flour (¾ cup)$0.12
Butter (2 tablespoons)$0.28
Ricotta cheese (½ cup)$1.10
Granulated sugar (6 tablespoons)$0.10
Lemon zest + juice$0.55
Vanilla extract (½ teaspoon)$0.35
Baking powder + salt$0.05
Egg yolk$0.20
Powdered sugar (6 tablespoons)$0.18

Estimated Total Cost

Approximately $2.90–$3.25 for the batch

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